[Jim_Lou]

Bill, I'm right with you. I'm putting a narrowed Cherokee SUA under my '78. I got Dodge outers for the flat-tops and brakes. Yesterday I shipped the shafts to Moser. Today I'm welding the spring perch and starting the axel swap.

I'm not going to make any firm plans until the axel is in there and I can see how stuff lines up. Two approaches I'm thinking about are:

Machine the top of the pass-side knuckle and bolt an arm to it for the drag link.

Weld a socket onto the pass-side steering arm for the drag link. I have a Dodge tie rod that I'd like to use, but I'm afraid it might interfere with the pitman arm.

What are you thinking?

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Thnks for the information. That's a beautiful setup, and one of the options I have in mind. I am going to file these pics in my Jeep folder.

Did you make tapered holes for the tie rod ends and the bolts that hold the arms to the knuckles? If so, how did you do the taper - tapered reamer? What angle?

Since I'm building an SUA I don't think there'll be room for the tie rod up on top. If I use the flattop, the arm will probably have to bend down a couple of inches to get under everything. Then again, maybe not. By this time tomorrow I hope to know what's possible.

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Jim_Lou]

Bill, I still don't have the axel in the Jeep, but I am leaning toward using the D30 knuckles. All steering problems look like they'll go away, except that the tie rod might interfere with the larger diff cover plate at full lock. If it does I will see what can be done about it after the parts are in place. High steer is definitely not feasible with the SUA; the tie rod would have to pass through the frame.

If I can make brakes work with what I have, I'll use the Dodge D44 spindle, hub and stub axel. Otherwise I'll put all of the old stuff back on until something breaks.

How is your project coming?

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Jim_Lou]

If I use the D30 knuckles I can use the stock tie rod and drag link. I have the knuckles from the '89 Cherokee the axel came from, and I also have a set of flat top knuckles from an '84 Dodge Ramcharger. Of course, those knuckles have only one rod-end hole in the passenger side, so there's no place to connect the drag link.

I had considered bolting an arm to the top of the Dodge knuckle to attach the drag link. I also thought about welding an eye to the arm on the pass-side knuckle, but either way looks like more work for no significant advantage. Also a tie rod on those longer arms looks like it would clang on the pitman arm. Besides I can't see myself breaking the D30 knuckle with 31" donuts.

FYI, I shortened the pass side 2" and the driver side 7 1/2" to match the stock width.

Does this sound reasonable?

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Jim_Lou]

I'm very glad to have another, more experienced, brain working on this with me.

Yes, it is going back SUA. Making steering linkage would be no problem at all for me. The tie rod from the Cherokee is a "Y" setup, with the drag link in it. I could use that, or make something out of the Dodge tie rod, which is a plain rod, but very nice and beefy. Or build something from scratch.

The main objection to either of those is that I think a straight tie rod on the D44 knuckels will clang on the pitman arm when the steering is centered. There was only about an inch of clearance before, and the D44 arms look like they're about an inch longer than the D30. If I don't have a clearance problem I may well change plans.

On the other hand, at full lock the tie rod on the D30 is only about 3/4" from the front of the D30 diff cover, so that could interfere with the larger D44 cover.

I'd like to use D44 everything, but if I only use the D30 knuckle I would think that wouldn't be too bad. It can't be much weaker than the D44 part, and I think I could still use the D44 stub axel and internal-spline hubs. Not sure about that yet, though. That will depend on the ball joint to spindle mount face dimension. I haven't yet measured the knuckles for that.

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.

 

[Jim_Lou]

That shorter Dodge pitman arm sounds like a great option. I will look at that when I get there. Is that from a Dodge pickup? Do you happen to know the angle of that taper? I'll probably have to get a tapered reamer.

I'll bet I could just shorten an arm, too. I'm not afraid to weld one. At least for myself.

I might have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.